I ♥ cake - chocolate brownie

I used to bake this chocolate brownie with my Mom as a kid, so I think I have been making it for over 25 years!! I am working on improving the recipe even further and shall report on this in due course...

Sunday afternoon special - Live from the oven!! This week: chocolate brownie (the nut-free version)

Chocolate brownie - cooling down...

Chocolate brownie (from a time-honoured childhood recipe)

Les Recettes de Froggie – Chocolate brownie

125gr baking chocolate (Valrhona 68%)

125gr unsalted butter, at room temperature

125gr caster sugar

2 tbsp cake flour (not the self-rising type), sifted or 4 tbsp rice flour, sifted

2 eggs

1 tbsp strong coffee

·       Preheat the oven at 180°C.

·       Line the bottom of a 22cm round cake pan with a baking sheet, and thoroughly coat the sides with melted butter; place in the fridge.

Break the chocolate in small pieces and put in a bowl with the coffee. In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, then carefully place the bowl with the chocolate on top of the boiling water until it melts (this is called a “bain-marie” in French cuisine).

Remove the bowl from the bain-marie as soon as the chocolate is melted, add the butter and keep stirring until it is about lukewarm.

Separate the egg yolks from the whites, add the yolks to the chocolate batter, then the flour.

·       Whip the egg whites “en neige” until stiff peaks form and add to the batter, 1/3 at a time, lifting the batter with a fork rather than stirring it.

·       Place the batter in the mold and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. To check if the brownie is cooked, pick the center with a knife – the blade should come out moist and buttery; if raw batter is still visible, the brownie needs a few more minutes. In doubt, note that it is better to slightly underbake the brownie than overbake it (overbaking will dry it and turn it into an “ordinary” chocolate cake, whilst underbaking will preserve its brownie quality and the slightly underbaked batter with set once the brownie cools down).

·       Let the brownie cool down completely before taking it out of the pan. As all brownies, this tastes even better after a day or 2 of aging at room temperature (maximum 20°C).